Crushed
by CecileJ
Summary: "In the world, the only person you can trust is YOURSELF." Maria Forrest had once been naive and innocent, but one man destroyed everything in her. His simple game forced her to become heartless, ruthless, and reserved. Paul Lahote was the arrogant, obnoxious prick who had played with her heart.
1. Chapter 1: In This World

**Crushed**

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters. I just only own the characters I create on my own!

Title Credit: Crushed by Lesley Roy

**Chapter 1 - In This World**

In this world, the only person you can trust is _**yourself**_. It had taken me both my innocence and heart for that fact to be engraved inside my brain. A year ago, I used to be the new kid entering La Push High in her sophomore year. There, I had met him. **He** was a gentleman: the kind of guy who would open the door for you, carry your books and bags to classes, and escort you to your classes after every single class. I had thought that he was perfect, and my heart had left with joy when **he** had asked me out. I still remember when he had given me roses on our first date at the movies when **he** had asked me to be his girlfriend. I had been naive. Too naive. But it couldn't be entirely my fault for falling into his trap when sixteen years of my life, I had never had a boyfriend. **He** had been my first for everything: first boyfriend, first kiss, first guy to tell me "I love you", and guy I gave my virginity to.

But while I took every moment with him seriously, to him, I had been just a game. Every date, every sweet nothings whispered, every kiss, every time spent together had been part of a simple game played for his entertainment. To him, I had never meant anything more than a prey to chase and discard. But I hadn't known that. No one told me his cruel games. No one warned me that if someone told you "I love you" in high school, they didn't mean it. I had been a romancist. I had just watched my dad get married with my step-mom. I had just watched my dad stutter out his "will you marry me" speech. How was I supposed to know that "I love you" meant bullshit in high school?

All in all, I had given everything to him: my heart, my soul, my love. But within the day after I gave him my virginity, he had thrown me away. **He** snorted at my naif as he dumped me in front of the entire school body.

_"This just high school, Maria. You can't honestly say that you believed me. I mean, seriously? This isn't some sort of flimsy Nicholas Spark story."_

I still remember the sound of my heart being stomped into pieces with his words, the sympathetic looks given from some students, the snickers, the whispers, and the disgusting "smack" of his lips smashing into another girl's lips. I couldn't cry, too shocked that the boy who I fell in love with was nothing but an asshole. What had I done to be treated like a trash? That day, I don't remember anything except walking away from him and his "new" girl. I had been stupid, young, and naive.

* * *

"Maria, I made breakfast! Wake..."

"Morning Mom," I stated as I walked down the stairs, quite cheerfully. It had been a year since that day. But I had changed. I was no longer that sweet, stupid, naive girl. I had killed the innocence and sweetness inside of me and left myself heartless, ruthless, and reserved. I found myself no longer caring whether I made a friend or not at La Push High. It wasn't as if making friends would have helped me out of the situation a year ago. In fact, I did have some what of "friends". That girl who he had kissed had supposedly been a friend of mine, but I didn't care anymore. I felt betrayed, disgusted, and hurt that day. But I got over it. I had to, if I wanted to forget about him completely. I wanted to forget about him, the times we spent together, and that horrible fateful day.

"Maria, I made some eggs and bacon. Do you want orange juice with that," my step-mom, Raina Forrest, asked. She was the daughter of an elder which allowed my dad and I to live in La Push. Or else, I wouldn't have landed myself in La Push, Washington, which happens to be a reservation for the Quileute Indians. Although looking at my step-mom was sometimes painful because she had been the one to encourage me about having a relationship with him, I never hated moving to La Push, Washington. The La Push Reservation was a peaceful, small town where mostly everyone was friendly - at least the adults. My dad - Gregory Forrest - and I are actually fully Caucasian. But I guess we fit into the Quileute population with our chocolate brown eyes.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not hungry," I stated as I grabbed my car keys off the hook hanging on the wall, near the kitchen counter. On most days, I would eat my mom's cooking - I mean, she was an awesome cook- but today was an exception. I needed to get to school early if I wanted to avoid him. He was actually coming back from getting mono or something. Serves him right, though.

It was after being dumped by him that I learned he was the notorious player of La Push. He actually went from girl to girl, tainting virgins to reaquainting with his fuck buddies. I still don't understand why some girls still go after him even when he dumps them. It's either they have brain damage or he's that addicting. But that didn't matter to me anymore. I was done trying to analyze the douche and his brutal ways. But still, that didn't stop him from giving me his stupid "I'm an asshole and you want me" smirk whenever we passed each other in the hallway. I chose to remain expressionless whenever we had our encounters.

But unforturnately, rumors in the girls' bathroom said that he had become sexier through catching mono - which was beyond weird - and developed a horrible short-temper which could be triggered through anything. Focusing more on his short-temper, I decided to arrive early to school and avoid most if not all chances of coming tete-a-tete with Mr. Asshole.

"Oh... but Maria, I think you should..."

"Mom... sorry, but I really gotta go! I need to finish school work," I lied as I rushed out the door in my combat boots. Through the year, not only had my personality changed, but my style of clothes had changed to shout out my "STAY AWAY" attitude. I had thrown out my flowery blouses, knee-length skirts, and penny-loafers and purchased a wardrobe full of band tees, long jackets with hoods, combat boots, and converses. I was going for a rebellious look, but without any type of sluttiness so that I wouldn't attract him and his lewd, demented mind back.

"Okay, bye," Mom sighed, and I could hear the faint scrapping of her spatula against her frying pan. I felt slightly guilty, but not too much because I needed to avoid him at all cost.

Letting out my own round of sighs, I started the car and drove to La Push High. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to meet him anytime soon: Paul Lahote.

* * *

Hi! I'm CecileJ! Previously known as ChibiZouWriter! I am back in !

This is my first Twilight story. I was never inspired to write one until now when I fell in love with watching Alex Meraz. (#^.^#)

Like it so far? Thank you for reading this story. I'll update soon. (^v^)

If it's not too troublesome, please write a comment/ review, please. I'd love to hear what my readers think. V(^.^)

Uh... just no harsh words please. m(^.^)m

Love CecileJ

Playlist: Graveyard Dancing by D.R.U.G.S (Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows)


	2. Chapter 2: Our Eyes Met

**Chapter 2 - Our Eyes Met**

"Hey Maria," a voice softly greeted me as I took my seat in my homeroom. I turned my head to the seat beside me, where Kim Conweller sat quietly in her seat.

"Hi," I mumbled back as an awkward silence followed after.

In some ways, Kim Conweller and I were similiar and yet different. Our first obvious difference would be our ethnicity. While Kim was a fully Quileute girl with mocha-colored skin, long black hair, and brown eyes, I was a fully Caucasian girl with blonde hair - slightly bleached, but not in a Malibu barbie way - hospital-white skin, and chocolate brown eyes. Although we both had brown eyes, in general, the shade of brown was much more different. Kim's eyes seemed to have more depth and livelyness in them. Also, our personalities were one hundred eighty degrees different. Kim was the shy, quiet girl who sat in far end of the room away from the whole school population. On the other hand, I wasn't exactly shy though I tended to keep aloof from other student, and I definitely didn't welcome others with smiles like Kim did every morning. Kim was slighty the image of me before I had ever came in contact with Paul. She sort of lacked self-confidence, but she was sweet and innocent.

Perhaps that was the reason why even though Kim and I weren't friends, I still talked to her and answered her questions. If it were any other student at La Push High, I would have pretended not to hear them, like my biology partner, Embry Call.

"Alright class, morning announcements," Mr. Strong announced aloud the moment he stepped inside the classroom. He was a muscular man with mesmerizing hazel eyes and curly brown hair. Although he wasn't Quileute, he coached the La Push High football team along with basketball as well. According to some students at La Push High, he had been the heart-throb of La Push High before Paul Lahote moved up into the high school and before he had gotten married to a teacher at Forks High. I could somewhat understand why Mr. Strong was a heart-throb, I mean, who wouldn't have fantasies about secret rendez-vous with a handsome P.E teacher? But in my opinion, Mr. Strong was one of the nosiest teachers in La Push High. He made it his mission to involve students into high school activites, meaning that he had probably pestered me more than a million times about joining some stupid club. The last time we had a tete-a-tete conference - which I don't remember when - Mr. Strong had tried me to persuade me into a musicalclub. It's not that I had anything against musicals, but I'd rather die than sing some an elementary song like "Hot Cross Buns" in front of the entire Forks and Quileute population combined with some families from Port Angeles. Of course, I had politely refused to join the club, but due to my refusal, Mr. Strong had made it his new mission to find me a club to join.

"Uh... lunch today is meatloaf with gravy."

"Eww... seriously? I am totally going to drive down to Subway," an obnoxious voice squwaked. I rolled my eyes as Natasha Green scrunched her nose in disgust. It wasn't like I wouldn't agree with her - the cafeteria meal, especially meatloaf, was just a disgusting lump of unknown brown stubstance - but hearing her voice was just unbearable. I was bias on disliking her voice. I probably wouldn't be rolling my eyes at her over-dramatic complaints - or maybe I would - if she hadn't been a back-stabbing bitch. A year ago, she had been one of the faux friends I had and the "new" girl who made out with Paul when he dumped me. But I was over that now. I just happened to have a dislike to her appearance, her personality, her voice, and I guess everything about her. Still, I wasn't a typical "I'll get my revenge on you someday" girl. I chose to ignore her like the rest of the people at La Push High.

"Hey, did you like hear like Paul's back today," Natasha's friend giggled.

"Yeah! And OMG, did you like see his six-packs? His muscles? I can't like wait to like feel it," Natasha squealed aloud. I bit my tongue to keep from laughing as Mr. Strong stopped reading the announcement paper and raised an eyebrow at Natasha.

Sometimes, I wondered if Natasha and her "friends" knew how to whisper. They had always been too vocal and boisterous for teachers to miss.

"Miss Green, would you like to share anything," Mr. Strong asked eagerly, like the nosy teacher he is.

"Uh... no. I mean, no thanks," Natasha grimanced. As much as Natasha enjoyed being Miss Queen of the World, she was quite strange that she hated being the center of attention in front of teachers.

"Oh okay... we proceeding on..."

"So like... do you know who gave him mono," Natasha's friend continued as if Natasha wasn't caught exclaiming and fan-girling about Paul's newly aquired "hot" body.

"Well... I think it's from that nerd in Forks," Natasha scrunched her face in disgust.

"Eww... I know... like what is up with him and his obsession with going out with like white chicks? Are they like that gullible? I mean like remember that girl that came in here like last year? She was like so gulliable! I mean I can't believe she actually like believed him when he told her "I love you"! Like every guy says that! And she like didn't even get that we were only being friends with her 'cuz like Paul was like there," Natasha's friend stated as she flipped her hand up and down while she examined her neon colored nail art.

I ran a hand through my blond hair, almost wishing that Natasha and her crony would shut-up or I could somehow mute their conversation. But of course, that wasn't the case, and so I had suffered twenty minutes - more like an enternety- hearing

Natasha and her friend "whispering" about the latest gossip in La Push. But most of their gossip had been about Paul, which made me tap my feet impatiently by the end of the twenty minutes, hoping to escape the room.

"Okay, well... that's it for homeroom. I guess proceed to class then," Mr. Strong finished as he placed the announcement sheet on his desk. Every student in the room jumped up as the bell for the end of homeroom rang. Perhaps it wasn't just me who had been suffering through Natasha and her sidekick's gossip fest.

Sighing with relief, I gathered my things, only to be stopped with, "Maria, can I talk to you... regarding your involvement with school activities." I internally groaned.

* * *

"Nice of you to join our class, Miss Forrest," Ms. Birch - or more like Bitch - stated crossly as she glared at me through her rectangular spectacles.

"Here," I grumbled as I slapped down a flimsy neon green pass with red bold letters: UNEXCUSED. It wasn't my fault that Mr. Strong had decided to keep me in homeroom thritry more mintues to discuss about joining Tutoring Club. How he got the idea was beyond me since the only A I seemed to keep and have was from Algebra and the rest of my subject scores ranged from a high B to a C-. Nonetheless, Mr. Strong decided to discuss the benefits of tutoring a student and preforming good deeds ih high school for college. It's not that I didn't care about writing out a perfect college resume, but I knew myself well. Could I teach a student without becoming vexed or impatient? The answer was an absolute "No" - to which Mr. Strong had furrowed his eyebrows.

What a wonderful day today seemed to be. Things just kept getting worse by the minute as I was forced to sit next to Miss Whiney Pants Natasha, who had at the time been busy eye-fucking Jared Cameron: the best friend of Paul Lahote. Jared, too, had came back today from catching mono. It was slightly weird how Jared Cameron had always remained a mystery. He wasn't a player like his best friend nor was he a shy boy. When I had been "going out" with Paul Lahote, believe it or not, Jared and I had conversed occasionally. Who would have thought that he was also taking part in Paul's stupid games.

"Oh... it's you," Natasha squawked obnoxiously as she scrunched her face in disgust. The girl was an actress. At first sight, you wouldn't have believed that she would be a two-faced, back-stabbing bitch. She was the La Push version of Mean Girls combined with Sharpay from High School Musical. Natasha's father happened to own some sort of buisness which made her rich - not rich as in Bill Gates rich, but wealthy enough to purchase designer brands.

I continued to stay mute in my seat, pretending to jot down some notes on the board written in Ms. Birch's chicken-scratch. I swear, Ms. Birch was probably aiming to be a pharmacist or a doctor before switching majors to teaching high school students the English grammar.

"You know," Natasha continued on as if I hadn't ignored her, "Paul came back like today. Too bad he like dumped you in front of everybody. If you haven't heard the rumors already, he's like become even more hot."

Natasha flashed her Hollywood actress smirk, but I disregarded her immature actions and continued on with writing notes. Whether Paul Lahote became hotter or not had nothing to do with me. Besides, even if he became "drop-dead gorgeous", I would never date him again even if he were to be the last man left on Earth. Just because a jerk's looks changed for the better didn't mean that I would beg on my knees to touch him or date him.

"You know... Paul like sometimes talks about you," Natasha mentioned. I refused to give her any sort of reaction by her words, but my fist was aching to punch her soon.

"Maria, ignore her. Don't let her get to you," I chanted inside my head.

"He says like you were a good lay. But he wished like that you would have bigger boobs," Natasha snorted. I wonder what she found funny because I knew that my bossoms were real and a C cup. They were definitely not small unless you compared them to the ones from porn stars.

"Oh... but maybe if you bowed down to him and like apologized for calling him a jackass, he might sleep with you again," Natasha advised, not that I would heed it. Why did I have to apologize for merely stating out the fact? He was a jackass who played girls' hearts to attain their innocence. I honestly couldn't care less about whether Paul was interested in "laying" me again. There was no way in hell that I would ever want to be in a room alone with him again.

"No thanks," I finally answered as Natasha continued to bore a hole with her eyes at the side of my head.

"Why?"

"Not interested. There's plenty of fish in the sea," I sighed, not really wanting to talk more than a few words to her.

"Huh," she questioned with an eyebrow raised. Go figure. She probably didn't know that figure of speech, but I didn't really feel like elaborating so I tuned her out.

"You know... I feel like sorry for you," she commented as she stared at me with pity.

"Why," I asked as the bell rang.

"Paul goes for more classier girls. You were just the new girl that he wanted to try."

"Hmm," I grunted as the bell rang for the end of the period. It was coming back again: the heavy, glum feeling which I had hidden a year ago. Quickly, I collected my things and walked out of the room. Only instead of the hallway, I bumped into an abnormally warm chest.

Our eyes met.

* * *

Hi! Chapter 2 is up! :D

I'm putting down a playlist for any songs I listened to that inspired me to write each chapter I post.

If you know calm or inspiring music (can be soundtrack music), let me know what songs you would suggest!

Also, if it's not too troublesome, please write a comment/ review! I'd love to hear what my readers think! :)

Love CecileJ

Playlist: If You Don't Mean It by Dean Geyer  
That Girl by David Choi  
One Time by SafetySuit


	3. Chapter 3: Dark Chocolate Brown

**Chapter 3 - Dark Chocolate Brown**

Dark chocolate brown eyes stared down into my eyes, the bronze speck entrancing my eyes to remain staring at them. For a second, my heart gave into his warmth as his familiar scent wafted into my nose. I was attacked by nostalgia of those distant days when I had been able to smile and laugh. But that moment didn't last long as I realized who's chest I had bumped into and who's hand was resting at my hip, closer to my butt.

"Paul, you came to pick me up," Natasha squealed as I pushed Paul away from me. He had indeed changed into something over the few weeks he was absent with mono. For one thing, he had grown. Not a mere two or three inches, but about a foot - which was abnormal if you think about it now because unless there was some sort of growing medicine going around, humans can't grow that fast within a two or three week span. Another thing I noticed was his muscles. Paul had always had muscles - whether I wanted to admit it or not - but he had developed fuller muscles like a body builder. Last but not least, his hair style had change - not that it mattered.

"Eww... what are you still doing here? Did you like think like that my advice would like work?"

I wanted to die on the spot as I realized that Natasha would go drama queen on this whole situation. The fact that I was standing within a five inch radius of Paul was a complete no no.

"No. And I bumped into him," I snapped as I walked off angrily. How could I let my guard drop when I was staring into his eyes! This was Paul Lahote: the guy who ruined my life and the notorious player of La Push High who was rumored to have fucked possibly every girl who he laid eyes on. I chastened myself for even thinking that he looked a bit enchanting when our eyes met. He was still the arrogant prick he had always been and whether he caught mono or not would probably never change him - of course unless he had a sudden eureka moment to treat girls better. But enough about him and his 0.99999999999% of changing into a better man. I couldn't believe how vulnerable and open I had been a moment ago. I probably needed to sort my head because unless I had a mental disorder or heart disease, why had my heart fluttered when I was in his arms?

A gasp left my lips as I realized my answer. My heart had not fluttered when I was in his arms. My heart had merely panicked at the thought of being into that manwhore's arms. Who know what he touched a moment ago or what sort of STD he contained. Letting myself believe that poor excuse, although I knew the reason deep down in my heart, I nodded in satisfaction.

* * *

"That'll be $2.30."

I grimaced, staring at the stupid lump of mystery meat on my lunch plate. As much I thought about buying something from the snack bar, there were only salads, fruits, and bagels placed on top of the counter. It was a question on whether I wanted to waste five dollars on healthy food that would probably starve or waste two dollar thirty cents on crappy food that would probably starve me anyway. The best answer for this question would be to just waste two dollar thirty cents on crappy food. Even thought I would never dare to eat the mystery meat, there were still the salad section, canned-fruits section, two half slices of Wonder bread, and a carton of milk to enjoy. I wouldn't die of starvation. Or at least I hoped I wouldn't.

But now the biggest question was where to sit. One thing I hated about La Push High was their stupid rule to require students who bought school lunch to eat in the cafeteria. The cafeteria was one of the most clamorous places in the entire world. I always wondered how the smart people - labeled as nerds - could study in such a blatant environment. Just being inside this place was starting to give me a headache, but actually finding a seat in the cafeteria was even more tiresome.

After a few rounds of surveying the area like a vulture, searching for an empty seat without any irritating parasite. Finally, I settled for a seat close to Kim Conweller. Our only greeting was a muffled "hi" as Kim picked at the cruton in her salad which she had bought from the snack bar. I chose to dig into my food, stabbing each piece of lettuce murderously with my fork.

"This one's for you, Natasha," I thought in the back of my mind as I punctured four perfectly round holes on the pale, green lettuce leaf.

"That one's for you, Paul," I smirked to myself as I stabbed four lettuce leaves in a row and stuffed it inside my mouth.

Perhaps I shouldn't have thought about him as a lunch plate slammed down in front of me. I looked up from my food to stare into those dark chocolate brown eyes with those stupid enchanting bronze specks. Besides Paul sat Jared who gave me a small apologetic smile. I glanced at Kim who was sitting closest to Jared and I raised an eyebrow as I noticed her flush red in the face even with her lightly tanned skin. Must have been the cruton she ate.

"So," Paul started as he faked a cough to get his attention. Not that he needed to cough because he already had grabbed the entire student body's attention by sitting in the "loner's" table.

I continued to occupy myself with bayoneting the leaves of my salad, wishing I could poof away in thin air. Paul's speech was bound to be filled with arrogance, vanity, and egoism. Not to mention that it would probably have to do with today's earlier encounter with him, where I happened to bump into his chest and stay in his arms for probably more than a second. But when he didn't continue on with his monologue, I finally looked up from my food to look at him. No idiot, villain, or douchebag ever started with "so" and then ended the conversation right there. There was always something after the "so", and "so" just happened to be the start of everything bad.

"How are you," Paul asked as soon as I looked up.

I gripped my fork tightly, wondering if I'd end up in jail if I attempted to murder Paul with my white plastic fork. But I had a legitimate excuse. No sane guy would ask their ex-girlfriend "how are you" when they were the one who broke-up with you along with humilating you. But being the bigger person, I decided to just ignore him. Ignoring was the best way to keep me from getting into trouble.

So I tried to ignore him as best I could, but it wasn't really working. I mean how would it work when he started trembling like he had a terrible case of parkinson's disease. Not to mention his breathing started to sound uneven. Slightly uncomfortable, I looked up at him again. But as soon as our eyes met, all symptoms of any disease stopped.

"What do you want," I finally asked, feeling sick from our numerous eye contact. It wasn't healthy for an anti-social person like me to have to stare into someone's eyes over and over again. In fact, if I closed my eyes, the only thing that I could see was his stupid brown eyes.

"I just wanted to know how you..."

"Fucking peachy, now move on," I interrupted irritatedly. How many times did he have to ask the same question over and over again?

"Oh... that's umm... that sounds uh... well, what made you feel fucking peachy," Paul stuttered with concern. Dropping my fork, I covered my face with my hand. Did mono have symptoms of changing people from an arrogant prick to a stuttering weirdo? What had happened to him the few weeks he was gone? But then again, there was no way Paul could change that quickly from Mr. Asshole to Mr. I'm Concerned About You.

"What do you really want? Stop beating around the bush, Paul," I sighed. I was starting to really miss the days when my school life was Paul-free. All the peace and quiet had been stolen away from me by this weirdly wired Paul - not that he wasn't wired abnormally before.

"I... I was wondering if you were free, today. After school, maybe," Paul asked.

If his games before were cruel and sick before, this new game he had invented at the moment was crueler and disgusting. Angrily, I stood up and dumped my lunch in the trash. I was going to walk away from this asshole. Even if I had been gullible or innocent or nice, I didn't fall for the same trick. Ever.

* * *

If it's not too troublesome, please write a comment/ review! I'd love to hear what my readers think! :)

Love CecileJ

Playlist: Mr. Right by A Rocket To The Moon  
Stay With Me by Breathe Electric  
This Little Girl by Cady Grooves  
I Need a Doctor by Eminem ft. Dr. Dre & Skylar Grey


	4. Chapter 4: Dinner Is Ready

**Chapter 4 - Dinner Is Ready**

It was perhaps my chance of luck that I was forced to be standing outside of the Uley household on a Monday evening to dine with "I disappear for one month and dumped my girlfriend for her cousin" Sam Uley and his girlfriend, Emily Young. I still didn't understand which fact was horrifying. The fact that the friendly, sweet, and motherly Emily Young had gone out with her cousin's ex. Or the fact that the one Sam Uley went for after dumping Leah Clearwater was ironically her cousin. Either way, I was stuck with my parents to eat at Sam Uley's because he had more artifact for my father to examine.

Of course with my lack of luck, Paul Lahote and Jared Cameron had to dine with us. According to Jared - who did the talking for Paul and him, considering that the only thing Paul was capable of doing was staring at me - they were interested in ancient Quileute artifact as well. I didn't know whether to believe them or not, but it wasn't worth arguing anyway.

"Here Mr. Forrest," Sam grinned, flashing his pearly white teeth as he led my dad some place else in the house. While Sam and Dad disappeared, I noticed that my mom had disappeared as well.

"Umm..."

I ran my hand through my hair, wondering how worse this horrible day could get. Three encounters with Paul Lahote, and this last encounter couldn't be avoided or shortened. In fact, I couldn't ignore Paul in front of my parents, wherever they had went off to.

"What," I sighed, after taking in a deep breath and letting it out. I made sure to not sound grumpy in case one of my parents popped out of nowhere. They would probably give me a lecture on politely conversing with other people, which I didn't want and need at the moment.

"You can do this, Maria. Don't snap. Put aside any hatred for this stupid idiot," I pep-rallied myself.

"Would you like to have a drink? Umm... anything?" Paul continued on trying to sound polite, which was odd. Paul was never one to sugar-coat things. Well, only when he wanted to get laid, but there was no way I would go anywhere with him alone - so there was no chances of him, me, and sex about to happen anytime soon.

"Uh... sure... what do you have," I asked, trying to force out a smile. Jared Cameron seated himself on a couch and watched our interaction with amusement. I wished more than ever that it was Jared who was conversing with me rather than Paul. First off, Jared was much more easier for the eye. I didn't have images of stabbing Jared with any sort of weapon-possible equipment, while my eyes searched for anything sharp and painful to whack Paul with as we conversed here. Also, another benefit of talking to Jared rather than Paul would be the fact that Jared didn't talk much. It would feel less awkward to talk to because as soon as our conversation was over, I would probably be able to go off and continue with my own life. On the other hand, Paul refused to let any silence come between our conversation as he walked to a mini-fridge in the living room and stated, "Sprite, Water, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Orange Juice, and Iced Tea."

I wanted to slightly choke him for not walking into the kitchen. That way, I could have a few minutes to connect with my "inner peace" so that I would feel tempted to murder, punch, inflict any pain on the boy standing in front of me. I hadn't even answered his question and he was already back with a can of Sprite in his hand.

"Here... I remember that you liked this drink," Paul stated as he passed my the Sprite.

"Thanks," I mumbled as I tried to sit the farthest away from Cameron, predicting that Paul would sit beside his friend. But no. I was wrong. I felt like having a dramatic break down as nothing seemed to go my way. Paul decided to follow me and sit beside me on the maroon loveseat I had accidentally sat on. But to make matters worse, we seemed to be squished together as the loveseat was quite small and Paul's butt or figure was quite big. Not to mention that I wasn't a size zero.

"So... how was today?" Paul started as we both opened our canned drinks. He was drinking Pepsi.

"Uh... okay," I lied, and I'm pretty sure that it wasn't convincing. Jared raised an eyebrow while Paul seemed to nod understandingly. Not that he would understand how horrible today had been.

"How 'bout you," I asked out of courtesy and hoping that he would just rant on for another thirty minutes about himself. Paul was quite an egoist, I'm sure he could talk about himself for hours.

"I actually had quite a nice day. Actually, the best day so far," he smiled at whatever he was thinking. How ironic. For me, today had been the worst day of my life while he thought it was the best day of his life.

"Oh... that's nice," I commented as I took a sip of my Sprite.

"Yup. And I see that you didn't have any plans afterall," Paul smirked smugly as he feigned a stretch and rested an arm around the back of my seat. Just seeing his smirk made me want to punch him again, but I chose to ignore the smirk and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I asked you at lunch today, but you left without answering. Did you get a stomach ache from eating that mystery meat?"

I stared dumbfounded at him for a second. I wasn't sure if he was plain stupid, stupidly optimistic, or obvlious.

"Uh... Paul," I tried politely, "I don't think I have any obligation to tell you my plans in life or my whereabouts."

A frown adorned Paul's face for a while and I could sense Jared tensing as if he was anticipating for something to happen, but Paul's frown was immediately replaced with a grin as he added, "Well, I can always match your schedule. It's important for me to know your plans in life. We're fated to be together."

We're fated to be together? There was no way that I could smile and nod stupidly at those words. The reason why I had turned into a bitter bitch beyond repair was because of him. Were we fated to be together? Not over my dead body. There was no way I believed in this fate bull-crap. It just sounded like another cheesy line from Paul's wonderful pick-up line dictionary. I wasn't going to swoon over that stupid line, and he couldn't fool anyone with that line about fate. Fate and romance had died that day he dumped me in front of more than two hundred students.

"Haha. You're so funny, Paul. Fated together? That's one of the cheesiest lines I've ever heard," I laughed out my anger. There was no way I could blow up here and start my long rant about why I didn't want to be within a five inch radius from him, which unfortuately for me wasn't working seeing that Paul and I were squished together on the loveseat.

"But..."

Before Paul could start or finish, Emily Young walked into the room along with Mom and announced, "Dinner is ready!"

* * *

The rest of dinner was uneventful except for the few times I would catch Sam Uley and Emily Young glancing at me. Not to mention Paul's constant stare. In fact, by the end of dinner - only Dad, Sam, Mom, and Emily talking aloud about Quileute artifacts and cooking recipes - I had a strong urge to smash my plate into Paul's face to keep him from staring at me. But I did nothing violent throughout our dinner nor did I speak much. Perhaps my behavior had paid off well as Dad decided to call it a night as soon as everyone finished their dinner and dessert.

"Bye Greg, Raina, and Maria," Sam and Emily waved as he, Emily, Jared, and Paul sent us off.

Smiling to myself, I started to walk off to the backseat of my parent's car. I hadn't suffered too much. Hopefully this stupid phase Paul was in would end tonight and he'd go back to being his usual obnoxious prick who paid no attention of me. It would be a gift from God if tomorrow would start out fresh with both of us living our lives in separate directions. But all good things end as the moment I tried to open the car door, a tanned, muscular arm beat me to the handle.

"Here," Paul grinned as he held open the car door for me.

"Uh... thanks," I mumbled as slipped into the back seat.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Paul continued on as he left a peck on my cheek before closing the door.

That bastard! How dare he place his filthy lips on mine! Who knows how many STD he caught through kissing people not to mention that he had mono two weeks before. Eww. I quickly rubbed my cheek with the sleeve of my jacket, vowing to scrub my face with water, anti-bacterial soap, and more anti-bacterial soap as soon as I arrived home. But what did he mean about seeing me tomorrow? Wasn't this just some sort of sick phase he was going through? Or did he and Jared start another round of dares or something? Besides, why was Paul there with Sam Uley today?

"Maria, I thought things ended with that boy," Mom asked with concern. I didn't really give her much detail about how Paul and I had "broken up" not that there was much to say, but I sure did cry a lot as soon as I got home. From the amount of tears I had shed, it was obvious that the "break-up" had been bad -no, horrible - but here was Paul who was trying to woo me today.

"Don't worry Mom. I think its after effects of getting mono," I sighed.

"Oh... I see."

Dad never said anything, strangely. Perhaps it was still weird for him to think about his daughter having a boyfriend a year ago. According to him, I would always be that little girl who used to make mud pies and claim anything around me as ancient artifacts.

What a day today had been. A sigh left my lips as relief washed over me. I never knew that mono could change someone entirely.

* * *

**Thank you for commenting:**  
_**Sarah**_  
_**Teddybear998**_  
_**0realistic-dreamer0**_  
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To **unknown**: I just put up the playlist for me to remember which songs I listened to when I was writing each chapter. Just so that I can go back and listen to them again when I'm writing a similar chapter. (^.^) I also noticed how recently it's hard to find music other the ones that are played on the radio. But they're a bit too upbeat for me to sit in a chair and write. (0) So, the playlist on each chapters are just showing the bit of inspiration I had when I was writing the chapter. (^o^)/

If it's not too troublesome, please write a comment/ review! I'd love to hear what my readers think! (^.^)

Love CecileJ

Playlist: Gold by Britt Nicole  
Haven't Had Enough by Marianas Trench  
Zutto by Aiko  
Don't Mess With Me by Temposhark


	5. Chapter 5: Three Major Things

**Chapter 5 - Three Major Things**

It was a week since Paul came back and three major things had changed in my life. One: Paul had changed all his classes into my classes which made him in all my classes except for Yearbook. Two: Jared Cameron was no longer useful to keep Paul away from me as he seemed to be gaga over Kim Conweller. The poor girl was forced to blush every minute of the day with that creeper staring at her like Paul stared at me. I probably would have whacked him, but I decided not to interfere, seeing that Kim looked a bit happier with Jared Cameron's attention. But I guess what girl wouldn't be thrilled to have full attention of one of the most "wanted" guys in La Push High? Well, except for me, that is. I just happened to have the number one "wanted" guy staring at me every single day, but I was so not thrilled. In fact, I would give up my place in his spotlight any day.

But the last thing that had changed was Natasha Green's attitude. She had become nicer over the week and it was beyond frightening. For instance, the other day in homeroom, she had skipped up to my seat with a smile and started complimenting on my nails. Strange thing is that I never ever did anything with my nails. They were never polished, cut straight in a ninety degree, nor decorated with those fancy, sparkly nail art. I didn't how you could compliment plain nails, but Natasha had stood in front of my desk for a full thirty minutes "oo-ing" and "aw-ing" at my unpolished, un-manicured nails.

"Maria, wait up!"

I internally groaned. Think of the devil and the devil shall appear. Natasha was speed walking toward me with her four inch stilettos - the ones that will puncture a hole in your foot if it comes in contact with any part of your foot. I seriously didn't understand why she needed to wear stilettos in the first place. This was La Push High in La Push, Washington. No one cared about fashion and even if they did, a school was totally not a place to wear hole-making, lethal weapons. I mean, who would want to raid a high school in an Indian reservation? It would have to be someone mental or incapable of common sense. For one, the reservation didn't have a lot of money to pay if students were taken as ransom. Also, parents too, wouldn't have more than ten thousand dollars sitting in their bank accounts.

As much as I wanted to walk off to my next class and ignore her, she had hollered out my name across the hallway which had resulted to students staring my way. In fact, it was slightly hilarious that Natasha seemed to play the role of Moses as everyone seemed to part like the red sea the moment they heard her stilettos click on the ceramic tile floors of the hallway.

"Yes," I sighed, knowing that whatever she was about to say would take more than five minutes. Unfortunately, I didn't have even five minutes to waste because I needed to be in Chemistry right now. Not to mention that today was a lab day which meant that I couldn't be late or else Embry Call would suffer doing the lab himself. Embry Call was a good guy. I didn't feel heartless enough to make him suffer because I had to listen to some stupid La Push barbie go on and on about unimportant matters.

"I was wondering..."

Oh god. She always started with "I was wondering" whenever she wanted something. Not feeling generous enough to waste my time standing still and listening to her "would you do me a favor" speech, I started walking toward my Chemistry class. But of course the girl couldn't take a hint, thus she ended it up following me as fast as she could in her heels.

"Me and my friends are like going to like First Beach," Natasha continued on. I rolled my eyes. How did she expect me to understand what she wanted when there was so many gramatical mistakes that I wanted to fix on the spot? For example, it was "my friends and I" not "me and my friends", and she used way to much "like" in one sentence. How did she expect me to decifer everything she said with that many "like"s.

"So... I was like wondering if you wanted to like come along with us and like barbaque. Oh... and there aren't like enough guys around so like maybe you could like bring Paul Lahote and Jared Cameron," Natasha suggested, although her tone of voice sounded more like a demand than anything.

"Why don't you ask him," I replied back as I rounded the corner. I only had one minute left before the bell to my next class would ring, and I felt utterly stupid to have even consider listening to her speech. All she wanted was Paul at First Beach. Why couldn't she just stop beating the bush and ask him directly. It would save me a lot of time and trouble - trouble that I was going to get if I arrived late to class.

"Because..."

I didn't even bother listening to her excuse as I hastily grabbed the door to the Chem room and closed it. Finally I was Natasha-free.

* * *

My life is officially like a video game: Mario, Kirby, or Pokemon. After every challenge I seemed to overcome, a new challenge would immediately pop up, like right now. I stare dumbfounded at Embry Call's desk which was occupied by none other than Paul Lahote.

"What are you going here? That's Embry's desk," I stated as I hastily grabbed a flimsy garbage bag apron and visor goggles.

"Oh... you didn't hear? Embry's aparently caught mono," Paul answered smugly as he reached his hands out to tie the strings swaying in the back of my apron. But not wanting to be any closer to him than he already was, I brushed his hand away and tied those strings myself.

"And why are you here," I asked. Usually, if Embry wasn't here - which was a rare case - this nerdy boy would be my lab partner.

"Uh... well... he wanted to work with his friend," Paul pointed out to the scrawny kid who stood beside a buff, football jock. There was no way nerdy kid and buff jock were friends.

"You blackmailed him or something, didn't you," I narrowed my eyes on Paul who in return shrugged.

"He just volunteered."

I didn't inquire any further nor did I want to know anything more as Mr. Holfenstoff clapped his hands energetically.

* * *

I sighed in relief as I sat at my desk for Yearbook. Finally Paul-free! I would jump up, dance, and squeal with delight if there was no one in the room with me. Chemistry with Paul Lahote was a pain in the arse. I couldn't believe how stupid he could be for mixing both acidic and basic solution into a well. We were supposed to measure the pH of metals, but of course how could anyone measure the pH when there was both acidic and basic solutions were mixed together. Anyway, Paul had tried making up for it by retrieving the answers from the nerdy kid. Poor guy. He was terrorized twice by Paul today. I doubt that he would be at school tomorrow because an encounter with Paul was bound leave trauma.

With a bright smile on my face, I started to sift through the pack of pictures stacked on my desk. At La Push High, creating the Yearbook for students was strangely an elective, and I was fortunate enough to be accepted as a member of the Yearbook commitee. The Yearbook committee consisted of seven girls including me, and strangely this committee was filled with more nerdy girls than cheerleader material girls. My job in the commitee was writing captions for each picture our photographers took of students "enjoying" their school life.

I had been chuckling at one picture with Jacob Black, Embry Call, and Quil Atera posing cooly against a beat up car when the door opened and I heard Mrs. Lin's heels clicking on the tile floor. Mrs. Lin was one of the nicest teachers in La Push. She taught math along with being the mentor for Yearbook. In her class, we were allowed to eat, drink, use our phones, listen to our iPods, and just about anything a student wanted to do except for illegal stuff like smoking, murder, drugs, and fighting.

"Alright girls," Mrs. Lin clapped aloud.

My smile quickly faltered as I stared at the sight in front of me. Even my saftey haven was no longer safe.

"Girls, let me introduce you to our newest member, the first boy we've ever had in Yearbook, Mr. Paul Lahote," Mrs. Lin beamed radiantly. Girls, all around the room, started to clap for him as if to welcome him while I stared at him with my jaws dropped to the floor. No way. This was not happening. "It's just a bad dream," I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and opened them. But when I re-opened my eyes, he still stood there all in his glory with that stupid smug smirk on his stupid face.

"Well Paul... I think you should work with someone to get the hang of Yearbook. We'll need you to get used to the system here before the end of first quarter," Mrs. Lin stated as she surveyed the room for Paul's "unfortunate" partner. I quickly turned away from looking at Paul and Mrs. Lin as I prayed to God, "Please not me." Of course, the rest of the girls in the room were all praying to God to win the lottery in front of them. For them, working with Paul was probably dream come true of their Cinderella story.

"How about... M-"

"Oh no. Please not me," I prayed desperately in silence.

"Miley," Mrs. Lin finally decided and I sighed with relief that the victim wasn't me. Meanwhile, Miley Crickens gasped with delight and the girls around her seemed to congradulate her. I didn't really see the big deal with working with Paul, but apparently he was going to be the Yearbook committee's idol this year and probably next year as well.

* * *

If it's not too troublesome, please write a comment/ review! I'd love to hear what my readers think! :)

Love CecileJ

Playlist: Fool For Love by Stefy  
Just The Way You Aren't by All Time Low  
All To Myself by Mariana Trench  
Beautiful World by Westlife


	6. Chapter 6: Everything About You

**Chapter 6 - Everything About You**

Apparently, Paul joining the Yearbook committee wasn't such a bad thing. In fact, there wasn't any chance for him to sneak his way toward me to have a "small talk" because he was constantly surrounded by girls. Every girl in the Yearbook committee had swooned over Paul, probably because of their lack of experience and the mere fact that he was the handsome "it"boy. It was quite interesting to listen in on the conversations between girls and the conversations they started with Paul. But perhaps the most aggressive converser was Miley Crickens, who happened to be the "lucky" girl partnered with Paul.

For instance, for the record, the conversation Miley had started right now was pretty interesting as every girl in the room seemed to be listening silently.

"So... Paul," Miley started.

"Hmm?"

"What type of girl is your type," Miley asked. I yawned predicting his answer already. His type was probably similar to the models on the covers of a playboy magazine.

"My type..."

I hadn't even bothered to listen as I placed both buds of my ear phone in my ear and started listening to music, scrunizing each picture place on my desk. As much as I loved my job as caption writer, sometimes, everyone in La Push looked fairly similar and it was quite difficult to identify who was who. Staring at the picture of two boys who were pretending to take notes, I frowned as Irealized that I didn't know who these boys. Deciding to check last year's Yearbook to identify them, I stood up from my seat only to notice that everyone in the room was staring at me.

"What?" I asked as I pulled out my earbuds.

"You weren't listening... were you," the girl next to me pointed out.

"Are we changing the layout or something," I inquired, raising an eyebrow. It was queer how everyone was staring at me, but if Mrs. Lin had an announcement, she usually clapped aloud. Even with my earbuds on I would have heard her clap to gather everyone's attention.

"You just missed it," the girl continued.

"What did I miss?"

"Paul's type of girl," she stated and I rolled my eyes.

"Well, he's not my type," I replied back, forgetting that the said he was still in the room. Shaking my head, I wondered why everyone seemed to be so quiet after hearing Paul's type. It wasn't that hard to guess. Too bad for him that no one had a vuluptous body in this room.

Just as I was about to reach the bookshelves which held all the yearbooks from the previous years, a warm hand grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the class room.

* * *

"Would you stop for a minute," I panted. The guy's grip wasn't too tightly around my wrist, but he sure held it firmly so that I couldn't escape. Not to mention that stupid Paul walked fricken fast and it was hard to keep up after him. Paul stopped immediately, making me crash into his stupid brick-wall back.

"Oww," I groaned as I used my free hand to rub my nose which had come in contact with the stupid wall first.

"Sorry... just that... I need us to be alone," Paul tried to explain.

"But I don't want to be alone with you," I bluntly interrupted, tearing my prisoned wrist out of it's prison: Paul's hand. I hated how I couldn't tear my wrist away that moment he had gripped it. I felt some sort of electric shock and my heart jolted at his touch. The saddest part was that I seemed to like the shock in a masochist way.

"Well... I-I want to know what type of guy you like. How can I change to make you like me," Paul asked, running a hand through his hair with frustration.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't form words in my mouth. The only thing I wanted to do right now was perhaps land a punch in his stomach or face. How could he not have a clue that I wouldn't like him whether he changed or not?

"You don't really think that right," I laughed, trying to treat his speech like a joke. I mean he had to be kidding right.

"Of course I think that! That's why I've been trying. Now tell me what you don't like about me and I promise I'll change," Paul snapped as he cornered me against the wall. Perhaps to other students, Paul and I looked like we were sharing some sort of intimate stare, but in reality, I was glaring at him. How could he just have forgotten?

"Everything," I hissed.

"What," Paul asked as if he had misheard something.

"I said that I hate everything about you! The fact that you can treat a girl like they're trash. The fact that you take pleasure in toying someone's heart. The fact that once you've achieved your notch on your bed, you'll completely forget them. I hate your face too. It makes me disgusted to see it. That stupid smirk you make just flashes arrogance. Your voice too. I hate it. It lures people in, catches their attention, and it's perfect for humilating someone. Beside, what does it matter to you? Why does it matter whether I'll like you or not. This is just high school, Paul. There's other fish in the sea! You don't honestly think that I'd fall for the same stupid game twice right? Because believe it or not, I'm not that gullible anymore. So go away and play your stupid game with someone who would kill to be with you because I'd rather die than have any sort of association with you," I spat as I pushed him away and walked off.

* * *

Okay so here's the next batch! I'll always update every three chapters I write or the other day after I post.

If it's not too troublesome, please write a comment/ review! I'd love to hear what my readers think! :)

Love CecileJ

Playlist: Gold by Britt Nicole  
Top of the World by Colorsound  
Kidnap My Heart by The Click Five  
This Little Girl by Cady Grooves


	7. Chapter 7: A New Number

**Chapter 7 - A New Number**

It was Friday now and Paul never came to school after our confrontation. In some ways, I felt good that my words had gotten to him. It was about time someone thought about hurting that prick who was accustomed to toying and hurting others. In fact, some part of me regretted not going to the next step. Maybe I should have tried to be dramatic and given him a slap or a punch. Probably a punch in the eye would have been worth it. It would have at least prevented me from looking into his eyes which had been full of hurt. Staring into those dark brown eyes had been my biggest mistake. I shouldn't have had to feel guilty for spitting out every insult I had for Paul. Yet there was this small part of me that felt guilty for spitting out insults at Paul Lahote, the guy who had hurt millions and millions of girl.

"Miss Forrest, please answer this question," Mrs. Birch asked. She was the spawn of the devil or the "bitch" in "son of a bitch". I wondered if she even had a son and what type of person he'd grown up to be with a mother like her.

"Uh... The pronoun is she," I answered as I stared at the stupid blackboard. Yes, people, La Push High still uses blackboards and every so often the chalk dust choke you up.

"Correct," Mrs. Birch huffed as she continued on her lesson. She was probably looking for a victim to shriek and yell at. Too bad I sort of understood this lesson.

"Well... Mr. La- oh... he's not here," Mrs. Birch mumbled to herself as she looked down at her attendance list. I rolled my eyes wondering why she had to nearly yell out his name, when he had been gone since Monday. In fact, she probably had something against me as she kept mentioning Paul Lahote's name every so often in lesson every day. Or she just really like shouting out his name. Maybe she was one of his lists of fan girls?

"Pst... Maria," Natasha hissed aloud. I rolled my eyes knowing what she wanted. Well, who wouldn't know when Natasha has been coming up to me twenty-four seven trying to convince me to invite Paul to First Beach for her "little" get together tomorrow. Of course, being the stupid her, she had only told me today that her "barbeque" was going to be tomorrow. How was I supposed to know that she had planned it out tomorrow? I mean, it wasn't as if I had some sort of telepathic ability and even if I did, I sure didn't want to know what Natasha was thinking twenty-four seven or even use my ability on her.

"Have you like asked Paul, yet," Natasha questioned eagerly, ignoring the fact that I had ignored her.

"No," I answered quietly. She had to be pretty stupid if she thought I was going to ask Paul anytime soon. For one, he hasn't been in school for the rest of the week so how was I supposed to ask him? There was no way I was going to visit him after school hours. Secondly, she of all people could ask him. I mean, I'm sure she was bound to have his phone number and email address. Plus, I knew she would probably be the first person to friend him on facebook and follow him in twitter if he ever had an account. For me, I deleted his phone number out of my cell phone as soon as we broke up. In fact, I went through a whole deleting and breaking fest. My old email account was no longer active and of course, I had snapped my old phone in half out of anger. Too bad you can't snap iPhones in half.

"Well, like could you ask him?"

"No," I answered flatly. I sure wasn't going to go visit him, and he hadn't even shown up to school today again.

"But you and Paul seemed like really close," Natasha pestered. For a split moment, I thought about punching her as well as punching Paul. In fact, I had a mental image of placing Natasha, Paul, and I in a wrestling rink and smashing their heads together like those MMA fighters. Maybe even jump on their back.

"Maria?"

I groaned as I was brought back to reality. No black eye or bruised forehead on Natasha, although I sort of hoped something like a pimple would appear on her flawless tan skin so that she could fidget and faint about a pimple than pester me about Paul.

"Look, Natasha. Paul and I are nothing. If you want him, I don't really care. In fact, he's yours. So please stop bothering me about Paul. Why don't you go visit him? I heard he's sick," I lied. Well, I didn't like about Paul and I being nothing and that I totally didn't care whether Miss Drama Queen and Mr. Drama Asshole got married or not. But I sure didn't know whether he was sick or not. Maybe he caught mono again, and this time he would be reverted back to his asshole self who didn't even give a second glance at me. In fact, I'd feel a whole lot better if someone could announce to me that he was seen walking with some chick. But no. There had been no news of Paul and his whereabouts, and not to be conceited, but I personally thought that it was my fault that he hadn't shown up to school. Well, actually, I wouldn't call it a fault. My doings maybe?

"Don't you think like I've already thought about that," Natasha replied annoyingly. I rolled my eyes. I wanted to actually shake her and yell, "Don't think it, just do it!" But I took the alternative of just clenching my fist.

"But he only seems to like see you. Like every time I tried to talk to him, he would like straight out ignore me. I mean like why you? You're so... white, and plain, and like normal. I have way more like class than like you."

"Says the person who uses way too much 'like' in one sentence," I thought to myself, but I nodded in agreement, just for her satisfaction. I didn't really feel like starting an argument with the Queen of Drama.

"I totally agree with you, Natasha. Now please stop bothering me about Paul," I faked a smile, flashing my teeth at her. But Natasha seemed to refuse as she continued to badger me about what I had done to catch Paul's attention. Not that I ever asked or hoped for his stupid attention. I'd rather die than be the center of his attention. In fact, I was starting to hate him more now than I had hated him after being used by him. Because of his unusual focus on me, I had stupid girls like Natasha sticking to me like a parasite and asking about Paul this Paul that. I was so sick of all this that I was actually on the verge of paying him a visit to place my claim and a restraining order.

I never really cared about the school bell until now, but with its final ring, I was the first one out the door of Mrs. Birch's classroom. My mind was screaming a whole list of "hallelujah"s as I made my way into my car. Finally I can rest in peace.

* * *

Finally I can rest in peace. Or so I thought as I had finally gotten home, when I noticed my mom waiting outside for me with a smile on her face. There were two things that came to my mind. She was either going to drag me to Uley's house again to have tea with Emily which automatically increased my chances of seeing Paul or Paul, himself, had come to visit me. Maybe I should U-turn my car. But I was too late to U-turn now as my mom rushed toward my parked car.

"Oh, you have a visitor today," my mom grinned cheerfully as soon as I opened the door of the driver's seat. I knew it. Paul had come to pay a visit.

"Uh... oh... um... well... I," I started as I leaned a bit forward to clutch my stomach. If I could avoid confronting Paul for the second, I would gladly fake having a stomach ache and skip over my mom's delectable apple pie, which I could smell from a mile away.

"No... you can't do that. She's been waiting for you for quite a long time. I can't send her away now and I think you should start making friends," Mom frowned as she crossed her arms across her chest. It was amazing how I had lived with this woman for a year now and she seemed to know everything that I was thinking. But she? I had thought that Mom would mention a "he" not a "she".

"Oh... she? Uh... who she?"

"Kim," my mom called aloud as she dragged me by the arm into the living room. There on one of the sofas sat Kim who held her teacup stiffly in her hand.

"Hey... Kim," I started, feeling a bit awkward. We only greeted each other in homeroom and occasionally sat together at lunch. But we had never gone from "occasional talk buddies" to "visiting your house buddies". So why was she here?

"Umm... hey... umm... s-sorry I came un-announced. Umm... I-I wanted to ask you some stuff and... and... well," Kim stuttered out in a panic as her hands shook rapidly, shaking the tea in her teacup.

"Kim," I sighed, gripping her arms so that she'd stop shaking. "Calm down. I'm not mad that you came to visit or anything. Just breathe in and breathe out, and explain to me slowly about what you wanted to ask, I smiled genuinely for the first time in a long time. It felt slightly good to smile, like a piece of "dead me" had revived. Kim nodded, slowly breathing in and out while taking a sip of her tea.

Finally, after a few minutes, she seemed to collect her thoughts and started, "I'm sure you've heard from Natasha about this barbeque thing at First Beach tomorrow. Well... she asked me when I was with Jared Cameron, and I-I said yes because I didn't want to look bad."

Kim paused for a minute as I nodded my head in comprehendingly. I didn't know Kim too well, but she always seemed like the nerdy girl in La Push High. The fact that Jared Cameron seemed to spend time with her had already been a shocking event and probably Miss Prissy Queen inviting Kim to her prissy tea-time beach party had been a double shocker. I would have probably said "yes" too, if I had been as innocent and naive as Kim.

"So then... Jared and I decided to go to the barbeque thing, but I realized... what if... what if Jared finds Natasha and her friends to be more interesting than hanging out with me? I mean... we barely speak a word or so when we're together and I-I don't know what I'll do if he decides that I'm not that fun to be around. And... and... I also heard from Natasha that she was trying to invite you and Paul," Kim rambled. I nearly scoffed when Kim had mentioned Natasha trying to invite me. Queen Bee was trying to invite Paul. I was just the extra baggage that seemed to come with him.

"Yeah, and?"

"A-are you going to go? Please," Kim begged as she placed her tea down and started to go on her knees to beg.

"Whoa... whoa whoa whoa... stop. Kim... sit back down. I don't need anyone on their knees in my living room," I demanded as I stopped Kim from going on her knees. There were probably million times when I imagined Paul begging for forgiveness on his knee with me pushing him down with my foot, but I never thought about making any other person beg on their knees, especially not Kim. Sure, I sometimes wished that Kim could have had the courage to warn me what kind of douchebag Paul was, but she had her own thing to worry about. Paul was a notorious player and an obnoxious asshole. He probably would have humiliated Kim if she ruined his plan of toying my heart and obtaining my virginity.

After I had gotten Kim had sat back in her seat and sipped her tea to calm down, I let myself think of what to do. I probably could go and attend Natasha's stupid barbeque if I wanted to. I mean, she couldn't say too much about not inviting me since I would have a million witnesses about her invitation. But the real question was whether or not she would find ways to try to humiliate me if I appeared at her tea party without her present, Paul. Paul would be the key to surviving Natasha's stupid get-together. Unfortunately for Kim, I was not going to throw away my pride and ask Paul to come with me to Natasha's stupid party. Nope, I was not going to go out there and ask him to do anything for me. Inviting Paul would be like saying that I wanted to have some sort of thing with him. Besides, why was I thinking about going to Natasha's thing anyway? I had planned not to go. I wasn't even interested in going. I mean, if I wanted some sort of gossip news, I could get it in the girl's bathroom where girl's loved to blabber on and on about their life, rumors about their "friend", and people's relationship status. The girls' bathroom was like a vocal facebook, and news probably traveled faster than fb.

"Look Kim... I could probably go, but I might not help much. I mean... I was supposed to bring Paul, but he hasn't been at school for the past few days," I started. I had decided to politely and kindly refuse going to Natasha's barbeque. There was just no way that I wanted to come in contact with Paul. Not even to do a favor for a sweet girl who had done nothing bad to me. My pride just simply refused to bow down to Paul or even make an attempt to apologize for the insults I had spat at him.

"Oh... I can ask Jared to do that," Kim commented cheerfully. I blinked wondering where the girl who had been on the verge of crying just a minute ago had gone. I mean, Kim had looked very desperate for me to attend Natasha's party. But at the thought of Jared Cameron, she was smiling as bright as a sun.

"But um... I think Paul's sick... and I don't want him to catch a cold or something when he spends his time out at First Beach," I lied. Like I would actually care if Paul were to catch the flu or break an arm.

"No, he's actually feeling better, now. In fact, I'm sure he would be honored to go with you to Natasha's barbeque," Kim smiled. Okay. Kim was either extremely oblivious or she was trying to set me up with Paul.

"Well... if you seem to know how Paul is, I'm sure you'll be fine with Jared," I reasoned. I mean seriously, if Kim seemed to know what Paul was thinking or feeling, she would know how Jared felt. It didn't take a genius to notice that Jared Cameron was "gaga" over Kim. In fact, I doubt that Jared would find Natasha and her cronies interesting with his eyes only glued to Kim.

"But, I-I-I really can't keep a conversation going with Jared. I've had a crush on him since kindergarten... and... and... finally he sees me," Kim gushed out all teary. I massaged my temple. I wondered how Jared hadn't noticed her until now, and why Kim continued to have a crush on that asshole's friend. I mean, if I knew what kind of Paul was, I would automatically assume that his friends would be also obnoxious douchebags. But either way, Kim was good at guilt tripping me. Whether she knew it or not was beyond me.

But before I could think thoroughly, I had answered, "Fine. I'll go, but could you ask Jared to drag Paul with him or something. Paul and I aren't in good terms right now." Never will be.

As soon as she heard my words, Kim had the brightest smile I've ever seen on a person.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you," Kim exclaimed happily as she jumped up and hugged me. I had my hands up in the air for a while, unsure if I should hug her back, but I decided to just hug her back. I mean, what was the harm, right?

After a few minutes of hugging and jumping up and down, Kim finally let go. Her smile continued to be plastered onto her face as we exchanged emails and phone numbers. By the time I had walked her out the door, I felt like the Grinch who did a good deed on Christmas. I was blithe that I had made someone smile and the fact that I had attained a new number to my contact list. Now there was Mom, Dad, and Kim's number and email on my iPhone.

* * *

**Thanks for commenting:**  
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I've made my decision to write a sequel-ish thing for Paul. I'll write Paul's version of the story while I write Maria's version. :D Hope you're okay with it. I guarantee you that it'll be as good as this story! Promise!

Anyway, if it's not too troublesome, please write a comment/ review! I'd love to hear what my readers think! :)

Love CecileJ

Playlist: Castle Walls by T.I ft. Christina Aguliera  
Won't Back Down by Eminem feat. Pink


	8. Chapter 8: Boy Named Andrew

**Chapter 8 - Boy Named Andrew**

_"I'm sorry Maria. I love you, please take me back," Paul Lahote begged as his muscular body bowed down in front of my presence._

_"Did you think I'd forgive you that easily? There's no way I'd take you back," I huffed, dismissing him._

_"Please, please," he pleaded with tears collecting in the corner of his dark brown eyes._

_"Why should I," I scoffed as I crossed my arms over my chest._

_"I-I'll die without you. I can' live without you."_

_"Then go die, it's not like I care," I answered coldly._

_"Please. I'll do anything! I'll be your slave," Paul insisted._

_"You'll do anything," I repeated, emphasizing "anything"._

_"Yes."_

_"Then get out of my sight. I never want to see your disgusting face," I snapped as I started walking away from a kneeling Paul._

_"Please Maria!" Paul quickly stood up and started following me._

_"Could you just stop it," I spat as I landed a kick in his crotch. He doubled over in pain._

_"Take that," I mumbled to myself as I kicked his shoulder. I cracked sadistically as I watched him in pain._

_"Take that," I shouted about to kick Paul again, but then my phone buzzed._

"Hello," I groggily answered my iPhone which had been buzzing for quite a long time. Opening my eyes, I realized that there was no Paul in the room and I wasn't even at a field. Shucks, it had been just a dream. I had actually been hoping for Paul to be on his knees begging.

"Hey, Maria. This is Kim. Umm... I was wondering if you needed a ride to First Beach."

I blinked for split moment unsure what Kim Conweller was talking about. But then I remember. My stupidity had lead me into this situation. Dear god, why did I have to be such a stupid person and agree on going to Natasha Green's barbeque party?

"Maria?"

"Oh, I can just drive there. I'll see you in a few minutes then," I sighed as I yawned.

"Okay! I'll see you there," Kim exclaimed excitedly as she hung up. I ran a hand through my head, wishing I never agreed to going.

* * *

I really wished I never had gone in the first place. I massaged my temple, feeling very frustrated as the first thing I see is Paul and Natasha lip locked. It wasn't like I cared, but I felt extremely stupid for any guilt I felt after showering him with insults. In fact, I sort of felt like the odd one out as Kim seemed perfectly comfortable with Jared Cameron. But Kim Conweller wouldn't do that to me, right, making me think that she was supposedly the nice, innocent, lonely girl and leading me to Natasha's party to make a fool of myself?

"Hey..."

Before I could greet Kim and then just walk away, Natasha had taken it her job to flaunt Paul's love for her to me, "Oh... Maria, I'm so glad you could make it. I didn't think you'd make it today."

"Oh... I just came because of Kim," I faked a smile, trying to walk to Kim. Of course, Natasha refused to let me go without rubbing Paul in my face.

"You were right about Paul not being interesting in you. Too bad you're just too plain. Enjoy the party while you can. Paul and I have somewhere to go off to," Natasha smirked at me triumphantly as she clung onto Paul Lahote. I nodded with a fake smile, feeling those old sensations of betrayal and hurt rushing back to me. I just didn't understand why I felt those emotions. It wasn't as if I wanted something to do with Paul Lahote. I had already figured out that Natasha had only tried to befriend me again to get Paul's attention. But there it was, that slight burn you get when you're on the brink of crying.

"That's nice, bye," I forced out a grin as I walked away to the barbeque grill. I felt so stupid for showing up. "I can't hold a conversation with Jared", my ass. Kim and Jared were comfortably sitting side-by-side eating their food. Grabbing my food - two barbeque sticks stacked with meat and an abundant amount of green peppers - I sat at the farthest log from socialization.

It had been a few minutes after I had sat down and started digging into my food that an idiot decided to sit next to me on my log.

"So... what's a girl like you doing over here? You don't really look like those natives," the idiot noted. I looked up from my food and glared at the grinning bastard who dared to interrupt me from my food. In fact, couldn't he see that I didn't want to talk to anyone considering how I decided to separate myself from the stupid group a few feet away?

"Look. I'm no one suspicious. I'm Andrew Mosier. I'm a junior at Forks High. 17 years old. Single. And I decided to come talk to you because I was bored of hanging out with my group and you were very pretty," the boy grinned from ear to ear as the wind blew his chestnut brown hair. He had mesmerizing emerald green eyes with specks of bronze and black in them. If he wasn't trying to use cheesy pick-up lines on me, I would have found him somewhat attractive. A guy who seemed to be able to use pick-up lines with ease like slipping on and off a condom was probably not a decent guy. I would actually laugh if this Andrew guy was a player in Forks High.

"Thanks, but bye," I answered out of courtesy. I think I was being fairly nice considering how crappy I was feeling and how this grinning smiley face was too dumb to see that I wanted to be alone.

"Aww... could you at least tell me your name, beautiful," he cooed and I was on the verge on punching him in the face. It was because of these stupid players that "beautiful", "babe", and "baby" lost all meaning. Now, whenever I heard any of those three words, I would cringe at the faux sound. Those words lacked affection and originality.

"Why should I," I sighed. I was internally debating on whether to tell him my name just to get him away. But this kind of persistent boys actually sticked around even if you told them your name. In fact the next thing they'd do is ask for your number. I sure didn't feel like tell my number to some weirdo who was bored hanging out with group to come bother me. He could actually have tried to mingle with the "natives" as he calls the Quileutes.

"Because... you looked bored. I thought you'd like some company," he grinned flashing his boyish grin. I rolled my eyes. I definitely shouldn't have come here.

"Besides, that guy over there, the one who has that clingy bitch, he keeps staring at you. I bet you that he actually wants you," Andrew whispered as he seemed to be glancing down at Natasha's group.

"Who?"

"Him," Andrew whispered as he tilted my head sideways to come in eye contact with Paul. But as I came in eye contact with Paul, he seemed to be glaring more than staring.

"I don't think he's staring. He's glaring," I corrected as I gripped Andrew's hands away from my head. It felt weird for someone to be touching my face, especially a guy's rough hands.

"Oh... no way. I'd say that he over the moon for you."

"Well, yes way because he's my ex," I snapped irritatedly. This Andrew guy was a complete stranger and he was telling me about what Paul thinks. Did the world revolve around Paul? Last time I checked, it revolved around the sun.

"Ah-ha, I see how it is. Is that girl his new bitch or something," Andrew asked. I rolled my eyes knowing that he was talking about Natasha.

"Always has been his bitch. Now, I'd feel much better if you'd..."

Andrew had interrupted me by pulling me up.

"What do you want," I asked exasperatedly.

"Let me take you out on a date. I'm bored. You're bored. Let's go have fun. Everything's on me," Andrew grinned ear-to-ear. His grin was contagious and at the same time addicting. I couldn't help but smile back and feel my heart flutter at the sight of him smiling even wider. Before I knew it, I was following that boy named Andrew.

* * *

If it's not too troublesome, please write a comment/ review! I'd love to hear what my readers think! :)

Love CecileJ

Playlist: Sweet Dreams by Emily Browning  
Desperate by Stanfour  
Jet Lag by Simple Plan ft. Natasha Bedingfield  
I Want by One Direction


	9. Chapter 9: Close Your Eyes

**Chapter 9 - Close Your Eyes**

"So, will you tell me you name," Andrew asked as we sat across each other in an ice cream parlor. I still couldn't believe my rash movement. What kind of person follows a stranger? I could officially title myself as dumb, seeing that the first thing parents always taught their children was not to follow strangers. In fact, to justify myself, Andrew was dumber for dragging me along with him. He didn't even know my name, yet he had been the one to drag me off from First Beach to a small, cozy ice cream parlor in Forks, Washington.

"Hello? You listening," Andrew waved his hand in front of my face, a heart fluttering smile adorned on his face. I don't know why I followed him, but I guess I couldn't hate this guy for saving me from my crisis.

"Maria," I huffed as I scooped a spoonful of my chocolate banana sundae. As much as I didn't want to trust the guy, I couldn't say "no" to a free sundae.

"Maria... that's a lovely name for a beautiful girl," Andrew smiled as he scooped a spoonful of his own ice cream. I don't know what he was eating, but it was a light brown color ice cream, so maybe caramel or coffee.

"Mocha," Andrew stated as if he read my mind.

"Uh..."

"You were staring at my ice cream. So, I was wondering if you were thinking about the flavor or if you wanted some. Do you want some," he asked as he pushed his bowl toward me.

"N-No thanks," I blushed. Why was I blushing all of a sudden? This guy, too. His aura totally screamed out "player", yet I couldn't find any reason to dash off the other way. In fact, I was probably being naive again. Who followed a stranger to an ice cream parlor?

"You're cute when you blush," Andrew grinned, his emerald eyes twinkling.

"Uh... so... was it okay for you to just leave your group," I asked, dismissing his compliment.

"Yeah. Don't worry. I was just called there to cheer up this girl. She fell in love with one of the Cullens, but they left and he dumped her," Andrew shrugged while eating.

"Oh... and did she feel better?" I wasn't sure who the girl was, but I knew the Cullens. Practically everyone in Forks and La Push knew about those extremely pale faces who looked animated statue. Their faces and body structure were all chiseled and perfectly sculptured. Their clothes and cars were the recent luxurious brands that appeared on Forbes magazine. In fact, the head of the family, Mr. Carlisle Cullen was a doctor at the hospital in Forks. But recently, there were rumors that this celebrity-like family had moved from Forks to somewhere else in the state. I never really cared about the rumors of where they moved, but I had to admit that they had left suddenly.

"Nope. She was actually kind of staring at the sea. Lost love you know," Andrew sighed. I nodded in understandingly. I had experienced those moments too, when I wanted to just stare across the endless horizon. But I quickly go over that phase of just staring into the blue. I mean, Paul didn't deserve my mourning. His objective had been to steal my virginity. He had never thought about maintaining a relationship.

"But she'll get over it soon," I smiled, trying to comfort this stranger who was concerned for his friend. Maybe he wasn't that bad.

"Well, I sort of doubt she will. I mean, I tried to ask her out, and she flat on ignored me," Andrew huffed as he ate more of his ice cream. I stared at him with an eye brow raised. Erase the fact that I thought he wasn't bad. This guy was definitely a jerk, if not a player.

"Oh..."

"But then I saw you, Maria. And I definitely knew that it was fate," Andrew exclaimed happily.

"Uh... I think you're exaggerating about the fate part," I corrected. It was more misfortune for me than anything.

"Maria, you're too modest. But hey... Maria seems a bit too long to say. How 'bout Mari? It's one syllable and it's easier to say," Andrew grinned.

"Uh..."

"And you can call me, Andy," Andrew added. I faked a smile, wondering if I should snap at him for suddenly making a nickname for me, when Maria wasn't that hard to say. In fact, it was just a five letter name. I wanted to argue that Mari sounded like a name for a cheerful, out-going girl. I was neither cheerful nor out-going. I refused to have such a name, when I was serious and far from cheerful.

"Well, Mari, aren't you going to tell me about yourself?"

I cringed at the name, but decided to tell him about myself anyway. I mean, he already gave me his whole profile at First Beach.

"Maria Forrest. 17 years old. Junior at La Push High. I'm here right now because you dragged me here," I stated as tersely as possible.

"And why were you at First Beach?"

"Because a..." I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I could call Kim a friend. I mean, we did greet each other in homeroom. We sat in on the same table at lunch, sort of. But that was it. It wasn't like I traded email addresses with Kim or phone numbers with her. I sort of knew where she lived, and of course she knew where I lived, since she had visited yesterday. But were we what people called as friends? I couldn't really answer. I knew nothing about Kim, and Kim probably knew nothing about me, except for the fact that Paul was my ex and that I had been just a mere victim of stupid Paul.

"Because?" Andrew interrupted my thoughts.

"Because a friend asked me to be there for her," I answered. It didn't really matter if Andrew didn't know the truth. It wasn't like he would suddenly start attending La Push High or I'd see him again after this.

"Oh? And where was this said friend," Andrew inquired.

"She found the guy she liked and he was actually talking to her," I shrugged. "I can't hold a conversation with Jared", my ass. I was never risking my pride ever again for something stupid like that.

"Oh... so she ditched you," Andrew pointed out, bluntly. Did he have any manners? I glared at him.

"Sorry... so... what about that guy who was staring at you?"

"Glaring," I corrected.

"Yeah, yeah, glaring. But I swear, he's over the moon for you."

I rolled my eyes. I knew this guy was probably on the dumber side because he picked-up me, a stranger. But he was honestly retarded to think that Paul was "over the moon" for me.

"He's an ex, that's all," I huffed.

"Oh... and you're over him?"

"Totally," I argued defensively as I hauled in more spoonfuls of my sundae.

"So... if I asked you out on a date, you'd go," Andrew grinned.

"Totally," I answered without thinking. Yes, these past few days, I've lost my brain. I gasped with my eyes wide open. Why the hell did I just agree to go on a date with him?

"Oh... so can I ask for your number," Andrew asked. "No," I wanted to refuse, but I reluctantly pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had stupidly agreed, but I was never one to back down. Going on a date with Andrew would prove that I was totally over Paul. It would show him to back off. In fact, maybe he was stalking me because he thought I wasn't over him. Well, it was time to show that bastard that I was never stuck on him.

"Here, I placed my number in, so try call me right now," Andrew ordered as he handed back my phone. I raised my eyebrow. Why couldn't he just let me type it in his phone?

"Just so you won't give me a fake number," he grinned, winking.

"Okay," I sighed as I pressed his number and the green "call" button.

"I see, so that's your number," Andrew grinned as his Nokia phone buzzed. When I bought my iPhone, the only function I thought I needed was unlimited calling.

"Can I text you," he questioned eagerly.

"No."

"Why not," Andrew pouted as he drooped his lips. This guy probably every trick to making girls fall for him. I had never seen an adorable male pout like his. Even my dad's pout couldn't beat Andrew's.

"Because I don't have unlimited texting," I answered, feeling guilty.

"Oh... but you still have a texting function, right?"

"Yeah," I sighed absentmindedly.

"Then I'll text you, occasionally," Andrew stated, and before I knew it I received a message from him.

_Hi Mari! :) My first txt 2 u. :D 3 I'll txt u our nxt date place._

"Don't you dare text it," I scowled at him. I didn't even know how much texting cost, but I didn't buy the function because I didn't need it. There was no way in hell that I would pay more the usual monthly fee because some idiot decided that texting me was fun. If he wanted something, he had to call me.

"Oh... so I can't text you?"

"Yup. Don't text me unless it's super important," I warned. Just then, my stupid phone vibrated again, and I glared at him murderously.

_U look beautiful, Mari! :) Better when U don't scowl. :D 3_

"Did I just say don't text me unless it's super important."

"But it is important to text you that you're beautiful," Andrew smiled childishly. He was like those tempted kindergarten kids who didn't like following the teacher's direction.

"Well... don't text me or I'm making you pay my monthly phone bills," I huffed as I erased all messages from the idiot.

"You wound my heart," Andrew sighed as he clutched his heart, but I ignored him, finishing up my sundae.

* * *

"Well, I guess, I'll take you back to First Beach to get your car," Andrew sighed with a frown as we stood outside the ice cream parlor. It was weird how we were suddenly standing outside with our hands intertwined. This guy seemed to have no problem with skin contact on the first day of a date. On the other hand, my heart was pounding rapidly inside my chest as I glanced down at our fingers clasped together. It had been over a year since I held hands with another male. My dad and I barely hugged yet alone held hands. It was always him and Raina holding hands or hugging, while I smiled in the background.

"Yeah," I breathed, forgetting how to form a sentence. Like I said before, if this guy didn't use weird, turn-off pick-up lines, I would have found him attractive. Unfortunately for me, this was the time that he decided to show his true charm by behaving normal.

"Why so shy," Andrew glanced down at me with a warm smile.

"I-I'm not being shy," I stammered, miserably failing at defending myself. There was something about this atmosphere that made me nervous. I couldn't help, but jump slightly as a gust of wind blew around us. Avoiding Andrew's gaze, I watched the October fall leaves swimming and fluttering in the air. If only I could be swept away from here at this moment.

"You're cute, Mari," Andrew grinned cheekily. I felt my face heat up at his compliment.

"I-I"

"Hold on. Close your eyes, you have a small leaf stuck in your hair," Andrew ordered as he took a step closer to me. I knew it was possibly the stupidest thing to do, and one of the cheesiest text-book lines in how to pick-up a girl. But half of me thought that maybe it was time to try interact more with the opposite gender. I mean, I obviously wasn't stuck on Paul, and I did want to get married and have children in the future. So I took that risk, and closed my eyes.

* * *

**Thanks for commenting:  
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**_ Guest_**

Yay! Finally a new update! :D If you already didn't know, recently, I was working on my Paul's POV story called** I'm Sorry I'm Bad**. There's already some chapters posted up so check it out!

From now on, I will alternate updating chapters between these two stories so that you can read both Paul's head and Maria's head! :D What's going on inside their mind...

If it's not too troublesome, please write a comment/ review! I'd love to hear what my readers think! :)

Love CecileJ

Playlist: I'm Not Over by Carolina Liar  
Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall  
Comme Des Enfant by Coeur de Pirate


	10. Chapter 10: What The Hell

**Chapter 10 - What The Hell**

Soft, warm lips pressed onto my lips as an unexplainable warmth flowed through me and into the depth of my body. When did kissing someone feel this good? I admit that the few kisses shared with Paul had the "spark" that all romance novels talked about, but never had it felt this breathtaking, incredible, and unbelievable. Slowly, I opened my eyes, wanting this warmth and this satisfying feeling to last before I'd have to face reality where Andrew, my strange savior, would be giving me that boyish smug smirk.

But imagine my surprise when I end up staring at dark chocolate brown eyes. There was no trace of Andrew's mesmerizing emerald green eyes with bronze and black specks.

"What the hell," I screamed as I pushed Paul Lahote away- said away being only a few inches apart so that our chests weren't touching anymore. What the hell just happened? My mind was beyond repair to comprehend what was going on. One minute ago, Andrew had said,_"Hold on. Close your eyes, you have a small leaf stuck in your hair."_ That had obviously meant, "Close your eyes so I can kiss you," which I did. But how had Paul replaced Andrew?

"Where's Andrew?"

I turned my head to look for Andrew, but Paul must have done something to make the poor boy disappear in thin air.

"What the hell did you do," I snapped as Paul still gripped my shoulder firmly as if I'd go for another kiss.

"I told that bastard to scram," Paul growled as he started trembling like he was having a seizure. Well, I was going to have a seizure too if this guy continued to shake, and doing everything in his way.

"Well what right do you have?! And let me go! The only bastard I see is the one in front of me," I argued back as I tried to escape Paul's firm clutch.

"Paul, don't!"

I could hear Jared Cameron's voice in the distance, but before I could even understand what was happening, I was pushed away, like literally flown out of Paul's grip.

I found myself tossed onto a bush as I stared at the monster in front of me. Well, monsters, actually. There in front of me stood two humongous wolves, the size of horses, growling at each other. One wolf had dark silver fur, while the other had thick brown fur.

What the hell just happened? To make matters worse another wolf rushed between them. This time, it was a huge black wolf. Larger than the two wolves that had been in front of me. As soon as the black wolf interfered, the two wolves stopped growling at each other. Seeing that the wolves had some how settled their problem, how I knew that was beyond me, but I could feel myself slowly blacking out.

* * *

"Shh... she's still out. Jared, you should have been more careful when you pushed her away."

I could hear voices in the distance, but a part of me didn't want to wake up. So what exactly happened before? One moment Paul was kissing me and then the next moment, two abnormally huge wolves had magically appeared. Wait a second. How did those wolves appear? Wait! Shoots I think I heard Jared Cameron talking too.

While I didn't care about whether Paul became the wolves' meal, Jared Cameron didn't deserve a death like that. For heaven sakes, Kim had finally gotten the boy she had a crush on. How was she going to cope if she heard that he was eaten by gigantic wolves. I could just see the headline on the La Push Journal: TWO TEENAGE BOYS MAULED TO DEATH BY ABNORMALLY HUGE WOLVES.

With a shudder, I rose up my warm haven.

"Oh, Maria! How are you," Emily Young asked as I sat up from the warm, comfortable bed I was somehow miraculously placed on. How I ended up here was beyond me.

"Where am I?"

"You're at our house, right now," Emily responded quickly, too quickly that I had a feeling she had somehow recited those lines.

"What happened to Jared... and Paul," I added reluctantly. I realized that if I asked about solely Jared, maybe Emily would take it the wrong way that I actually like Jared rather than I could care less about Paul.

"Oh, they're fine," Emily replied with a forced smile. That smile definitely meant that they were beyond fine.

"No, Emily. They were probably mauled by two gigantic wolves. No human would be fine. What happened? Did they die," I confronted bravely. I took in a deep breath, ready to take in the bad news. Did they both die? Had only one died? If so, I sort of hoped it was Paul, since he probably deserved the death more than Jared. Or had they both become disabled or something?

"Maria, they really are fine," Emily reassured. But I couldn't understand why they would be fine.

"I need to see them," I said as I tried to stand out of bed.

"Wait... you sort of bruised your back," Emily started, but too late, I already stood up, enduring the slight pain in my back. I can't say that I ran to their voices, nor could I say I walked to their voices, but I did dash toward their voices.

"Jared! Paul! Are you okay?!"

I gasped as I entered the kitchen. Both boys had been talking and laughing about something before I entered, and they both stared at me like deers caught in a headlight.

"Are you guys okay," I asked again. Glancing at their shirtless body, they looked beyond okay. It was as if they hadn't suffered any bruises, scars, or broken bones.

"Umm... yeah... we're fine. How 'bout you," Jared replied as he elbowed a mute Paul. What was his problem when I was the unlucky one who suffered not only flying into a bush on my back, but Paul's icky kiss?!

"Bruised," I stated tersely, slightly feeling angry at myself for having any type of concern for Mr. Mute Paul. Paul just stood silently with his arms crossed, refusing to even look at me after catching him off guard.

"So, what exactly happened, since even rocket science can't produce gigantic wolves out of thin air."

I decided to just converse with Jared. Like I always say, Jared was way easier to talk to and way nicer and friendlier than Paul who decided to ignore my presence. It's fine by me. This was what I wanted from the start.

"Well... about that," Jared started then continued, "it's something you'll have to hear from Paul, instead of me."

"There's nothing to talk about," Paul interfered, ready to leave the kitchen.

Then it hit me, the obvious reason why Paul and Jared didn't have any bruises or wounds of being nearly mauled by a wild animal, why Emily had forced a smile when I asked about Paul and Jared. It all made sense to me now.

* * *

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**_poopforbrains_**

I am totally sorry for not updating for about several months. Not that I have a justifiable excuse, but school work became my priority once summer ended, hence with too many AP classes (because I took them without thinking ahead), I was overloaded with homework and totally forgot about this story and any story I've written in general. But as you can see, I still enjoy writing! :)

Please bear with me on my writing skill, it's a bit rusty after numerous months spent on writing boring analytical papers. But I hope to bring you laughter, love, and more laughter through this story.

I think I'm going to wait a while to update on I'm Sorry I'm Bad, just because I need to see where this story is headed before I write through Paul's perspective. But feel free to read Paul's perspective. I still had some fits of giggling after reading through this story and Paul's story.

Also, thank you so much for your thoughtful reviews. I enjoy learning that my readers love this story as much as I do. As for the requests about updating... I'm sorry I haven't replied to your requests, and I hope it's not too late. But, I pinky-promise (cross my heart and hope to die) that I will update frequently this summer because I am finally out of high school, and next year I'll be a college student!

Okay... enough about me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please continue to write a review/comment! Even non-members of this site can write a review as a Guest - maybe write the username you want to be thanked as in the review so that I can thank you. I really do enjoy listening to your thoughts, opinions, dislike & likes. Feel free to PM! ;)

Love CecileJ

P.S. I think I'll continue the playlist thing in case you're looking for some music to listen to.

Playlist: Don't Stop by Innerpartysystem Breath by Breaking Benjamin  
We Are by Hollywood Undead


	11. Chapter 11: You're My Imprint

**Chapter 11 - You're My Imprint**

"You had the guts to abandon me, didn't you, after you kissed me," I snapped.

It all made sense now. Why else would Paul and Jared not have bruises or scars from those gigantic wolves? Paul Lahote, being his cowardly self, must have ran away the moment he spotted those wolves making an appearance. When he was shaking like he was going to have a seizure, he must have been shaking like a scared little girl. Ha, it's so laughable. Paul Lahote hiding behind a girl because he's scared of wild animals. So basically, he used me as a bait so he could run away.

"What? No, I didn't abandon you," Paul denied as if I would believe him.

"Yeah, cuz you were totally shaking like a scared little girl," I scoffed.

"What? I wasn't shaking cuz I was scared. I was shaking cuz I was angry," Paul argued back as he started his seizure-thing. What now? Was he scared of me?

"Besides," Paul added, "it's all your fault."

What the freaking hell! How was it my fault that two gigantic wolves just magically appeared out of the blue? How was it my fault that Paul decided to scare Andrew away and thus I had to suffer Paul's lip-to-lip kiss? If anything it was all his fault.

"How's it my fault?"

"I shifted because you keep giving me mixed signals," Paul responded.

Shifted? What the hell did that mean? Nevermind, I don't really care. But mixed signals? When did I ever give mixed signals? If I remember correctly, from day one since Paul came back to school with some peculiar repercussions of mono, I had been blunt and blatant about not wanting anything to do with Paul. In fact, I had clearly given him a heartfelt speech on why I hated everything about him.

"What do you mean mixed signals? Didn't my 'I hate everything about you' speech, make it super obvious that I don't like you in any way possible," I retorted.

"You guys," Jared started as he tried to pacify both of our anger.

"Stay out of this Jared," Paul and I snapped at the same time. Jared nodded quietly as he raised both hands as if to show us that he surrendered.

But enough about Jared. Right now, I was busy glaring at Paul Lahote, the big head who didn't seem to understand English in general. When I say that I hate someone to their face, it obviously means that I hate them. It's not an 'I hate you, giggle, giggle, giggle' like his usual La Push Barbie harem.

"But we're meant for each other. You have to like me," Paul argued. Here we go again. Why couldn't Paul just stop using cheesy lines? Besides, how was I obligated to like Paul? As long as I remember, even though La Push is a reservation, this is America! Freedom of rights.

"Yeah right, like I would want to be meant for you," I snarled sarcastically.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't want to be with you, either," Paul huffed as he started trembling rapidly. In a way, his stupid shaking was starting to vex me. Couldn't he just stand still for even ten minutes?

"Paul, calm down," an authoritative voice rang and ended our argument. Paul huffed, but he stopped shaking and just continued to glare at me with his arms crossed over his chest. I turned my head to look at Sam Uley who walked into the house shirtless. Really? What was up with all the men in this house walking around shirtless?

"Maria, your father will be here shortly. Then we'll explain everything to you," Sam noted as he left the kitchen. Why did I have this gut feeling that I didn't want to know what was about to be explained? Even more, how did this involve my dad?

* * *

I sat quietly in my seat at the Uley's dinning table as I stared at the other members of Sam Uley's cult, gang, group, whatever you call it. Apparently though, catching mono seemed to really give amazing aftereffects as Embry Call sat shirtless across Paul. But then again, there were some not-so-amazing aftereffects such as Embry Call staring at me for more than ten minutes and then looking away from me with disappointment on his face. I don't know what he was hoping when he saw my face, but I didn't really feel comfortable knowing that I had somehow disappointed Embry in some way that was unknown to me. When Paul saw this scene, he got all possessive and controlling as he tried to stick as close to me as possible, which was the reason why he was sitting next to me on my right.

On my left sat my dad who was busy whispering to Sam Uley about something, probably about Quileute artifact. Sam Uley sat at the head of the table because apparently, he is the leader of this group. Besides Sam sat Jared who glanced nervously between Paul and me as if we would start quarreling soon. While I would have been tempted to punch Paul in the face since I don't think I would ever be this close to him again, I restrained myself in order to not cause my dad any embarrassments.

Where is Emily? She was busying herself in the kitchen, and I probably would too if I didn't have to be sitting at this table full of testosterones.

"Maria, whatever we're about to tell you, I want you to listen carefully and be rational. It'll be a bit difficult to understand and let it sink in, but I want you to have an open-mind," my dad instructed.

I nodded, slightly nervous about whatever my dad was about to say. He never gave these brief intro speeches unless the matter was something serious.

"Do you remember hearing about the Quileute legends," my dad asked me. As an archaeologist's daughter, I had always listened to my dad's tales and legends behind each artifact that he'd discovered. Living on the La Push reservation where my dad spent most of his time analyzing Quileute artifacts obviously meant that I had listened to those Quileute legends like the Spirit Warriors, Chief Taha Aki, and the story of the third wife.

"Yeah, I remember."

"Well," my dad started hesitantly as he scratched the back of his neck, "it's true."

"What's true?"

"All of it."

"All of..." I stared at my dad. There was no way that legends could be true. There was a reason why it was called legend instead of history. Legends were mythical, far from reality, and tended to stay far from reality.

"Maria," Sam joined in the conversation, "do you remember about Chief Taha Aki and how he shared his spirit with the Great Wolf?"

I nodded.

"Well, it just so happens that some of us are allowed to have the same ability as Chief Taha Aki. We can shift into wolves."

We as in Sam, Jared, Embry and Paul? In that moment, I scooted closer to my dad and further away from Paul.

"But don't worry," Sam noted as he must have noticed that I moved away from Paul, "We don't attack people, only dead ones."

That didn't make any sense at all. In fact, I wasn't sure what made sense now.

"In the legends, do you remember the cold ones? Well they're..."

"Zombies," I thought mentally in my head. A person that was dead but alive. Definitely zombies.

"Vampires," Sam finished.

"What? But they aren't even dead," I accidentally blurted. I'm sure most people who'd ever thought about what a vampire is - although I doubt most people would be forced to think about it - would say that vampires are nocturnal creatures who have fangs and like to suck on people's blood, making two puncture holes in their victim's neck. Now if you've ever watched those Hollywood movies, vampires usually die in the sun, wooden stake puncturing their heart (although I think even humans would die if someone staked their heart with a wooden stake), and Christian goodies such as holy water and the cross. Well, I think the Christian thing was probably a flux. I mean how can someone die staring at a cross or getting holy water thrown at them unless they had aquaphobia (fear of water) or staurophobia (fear of the cross). But anyway, how could vampires be dead? I mean they even had terms like Vampire bats which is a specie of bat (alive) who like to suck on blood.

"Well, they are dead," Paul announced as he started his trembling.

Oh god, really? Was he afraid of them or what?

"Paul," Sam warned and Paul stopped shaking.

"The cold ones are the ones who activate this gene in us that allows us to turn into wolves," Sam continued.

I nodded as if I understood, but stopped once I realized that I had no clue why I was even hearing this. Wasn't this information supposed to be top secret Quileute Tribe information? Why was I sitting here?

"Now... do you remember about the Chief Taha Aki's third wife?"

Who wouldn't. Out of all the Quiluete legend I heard from my dad, that story had been the most saddest, yet heartwarming and poignant story ever. I mean she sacrificed her life to save her sons and Taha Aki. I also loved how Taha Aki had given up his power to stay close to his wife's corpse even though now that I think about it, it's a bit necrophiliac.

"Yeah."

"Well, we learned that the third wife might have been the chief's imprintee," Sam stated as he stared at me. I raised an eyebrow wondering when he would continue, but instead of Sam, Paul continued, "Imprinting is when a shift-shaper finds their other half, like a soul mate. And he becomes unconditionally bounded to her for the rest of his life. The imprintee become all that he can see."

Paul stared at me with this creepy dazed look.

"So, this imprinting thing, what does it have to do with me," I asked as I scooted even further away from creepy Paul. But Paul quickly, yet gently grabbed my hand and kissed it as he stated, "You're my imprint."

* * *

**Thanks for commenting:**  
**_MakaylaLahote_**  
**_Venetiangrl92_**  
**_Lady Syndra_**  
**_smith_**  
**_momoXvolturi_**

Just like I promised! I did update! Thank you to those who commented! It's been a while since I've written this story, so it makes me very happy to see that I still have readers who take some their time to comment/ review. ;)

I will try to update as frequently as I can. The more reviews the more incentive, but I will continue to write on! :D

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please continue to write a review/comment! Even non-members of this site can write a review as a Guest - maybe write the username you want to be thanked as in the review so that I can thank you. I really do enjoy listening to your thoughts, opinions, dislike & likes. Feel free to PM! ;)

Love CecileJ

Playlist: She's The Blade by Sugarcult  
Hold On by Runner Runner  
Show Me Love by t.A.T.u.  
Whataya Want From Me by Adam Lambert


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